Recipe from my Greek Grandmother

After reading the Callie Costas mysteries by Jenny Kales and Killer Kebab by Susannah Hardy with Greek cooking influences, my sister and I decided to make one of our favorites - spanakopita. Trying to get our mother to give us a written recipe was always problematic. Our mother learned to cook from our Greek grandmother and there was no real measuring involved. Using your hand or "hoofta" was how my grandmother measured flour. So what if her hoofta was smaller than mine. No problem, right

Over the years we have learned to adapt and use real measures. We use store bought phyllo dough although my mother made her own. I have not mastered that technique yet and doubt I will. One tip though make sure you purchase the phyllo dough ahead of time and thaw it in the refrigerator overnight. We forgot to do that so our lunch plans were postponed because the dough was frozen.

We used fresh spinach and split the 2 lbs. into two bowls. Wash the spinach and dry it thoroughly. You don't want any liquid from the spinach in the mix otherwise your phyllo dough will get soggy. We chopped one medium onion and a bunch of scallions (green onions) and mixed those in. Some recipes call for a garlic clove, but my mother never used garlic, so we did not add it. Add 1 cup of cottage cheese (well drained) and about 1 cup of feta cheese chopped into small pieces into another bowl (I always add more feta to mine). Add two well beaten eggs and 3 tablespoons of flour to the cheese mix and blend well. Add the cheeses to the spinach. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the mix. Divide the mix in half and use two pans to cook it.

Butter and oil your pan then layer three or four sheets of phyllo into the pan. Brush the top layer with olive oil and then pour in the mix. Fold over the edges and add additional sheets of phyllo to completely seal the mix into the pan. Brush olive oil and bake in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy. 

Death by Dumpling

When Lana Lee rashly quits her job, she is forced to do something she hasn't wanted to do - work in her parents Chinese restaurant. The restaurant called Ho-Lee Noddle House is in the middle of a quaint Asian Village shopping center owned by Chinese entrepreneur Mr. Feng. In Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien, Lana finds job hunting to be difficult in the northeast Ohio so she bows to pressure from her mother a joins the restaurant team.

When Lana stops to deliver Mr. Feng's lunch to him at his office, she hears yelling from inside. Bursting out of the door is Kimmy Tran, whose parents own the China Cinema and Song Asian video and music shop in the complex. Kimmy rages that Mr. Feng is planning to raise the rents on the shops and this will hurt her parents' business. She huffs off muttering threats against Mr. Feng.

Lana delivers his usual meal making sure there is no seafood in the dumpling because Mr. Feng is very allergic to shellfish. Within hours Mr. Feng is dead from anaphylactic shock from shellfish. Lana is sure she had seen the EpiPen in his shirt pocket. What could have gone wrong?

Without warning, Pete, her parents chief, is arrested for the murder, Lana and her roommate Megan decide to "take the case." With her trusty detective notebook in hand, Lana decides to start interviewing suspects. At her condolence call to Mrs. Feng, she asks pointed questions about Pete and Mr. Feng's partner Ian Sung. What is to become of the little enclave?

But all is not what it seems in the lives of the Asian Village shop owners. As Lana digs deeper she finds some secrets don't stay hidden no matter how hard you try to bury them.

This is the first in a new series and I enjoyed it very much. Although Lana's family owns a Chinese restaurant, the author does not play on stereotypical  Chinese behavior which I thought was a good direction. She makes the Asian Village come alive and you can almost see the pagoda-style buildings. And I was craving Chinese food after reading it!

Interview with Suzanne Adair

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?
Killer Debt, fourth book of my Michael Stoddard American Revolution mysteries, is the newest title

in this projected six-book series and will be my seventh published book when it’s released on May 9, 2018. The setting is North Carolina in the year 1781, when redcoats successfully occupied the town of Wilmington, North Carolina from January through November 1781.

How did you become interested in writing?
I’ve been writing fiction since I was in second grade. I’d been through the eye of a hurricane at home with my family—mighty Mother Nature!—and a few weeks later, I caught the mumps and was quarantined at home while I was contagious. Since I didn’t feel bad, I was really bored. I zipped through a stack of library books. Then my mother gave me paper and a pencil and told me to write something. And after that genie was out of the bottle, I didn’t stop writing.

What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening, etc?
While I’m actively writing on a first draft, my best time to work is before noon. Rather than aim for a certain daily word count, I aim for consistent time spent writing on the ms. daily. If I adequately clear distractions, it isn’t unusual for me to write 3000 words during the morning hours. Afternoons are usually better for editing.

Do you plot the entire book first, then write or plot as you go?
I’m a pantser-plotter hybrid. When I start the first draft, I know the scene where I’ll start writing, how the book will end, and several major points in between that I have to hit to keep the plot on course. I don’t outline it. There’s too much “gray” (lesser plot points). Kinda scary, but I’ve learned to start writing and not worry about the gray. Soon into the first draft, my characters take over. If I don’t interfere, what they must do and how they must grow replaces the gray—identifies and refines plot points. Around the halfway point, I create a crude outline of the remaining points I have to hit to satisfactorily reach the end. That gets me across the finish line.

Do you use real people and places as models for your books?
I write historical mystery set in the 18th century, so I can use real people and places without having to model them on anyone. Of course, I research people and places extensively to create a well-rounded picture of the past. Here’s an example.

Major James Henry Craig, a supporting character in my series, was the real-life commander of the 82nd Regiment while it occupied Wilmington, North Carolina. To construct a realistic and period-accurate picture of him for the reader, I studied his service record and read some of his letters. There’s also a profile portrait of him available and descriptions of him (physiological and personality) from 18th-century sources. In Wilmington, he competently commanded about two hundred soldiers who wound up accomplishing goals that two thousand soldiers might have done. That tells me Craig delegated a lot of work to the officers below him (and trusted them), had short meetings with people, wrote a number of letters trying to get more soldiers transferred to his post, thought outside the box a great deal, and was good at seeing the big picture but not the minutiae. In other words, he wasn’t too different from the CEO of a modern corporation.

Who is your favorite author?
I have several favorites. In no particular order: Ellis Peters, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Daphne du Maurier, Terri Windling, Andre Norton, Robert Louis Stevenson, Ursula K. LeGuin.

How do you promote your books?
I’m active on social media, of course, but the most effective promotion for the Michael Stoddard series is in-person promotion, such as a presentation, a workshop, or a panel. My readers strongly prefer to read physical books, rather than ebooks, and they enjoy meeting me and talking with me at author events.

They use Facebook. They also regularly read the Relevant History feature on my blog, where I post guest essays by authors of historical fiction or historical non-fiction. I created the feature in 2011 to give authors with a history connection extra visibility, provide them with cyber space to discuss something exciting, horrific, hilarious, scandalous, etc. that they’ve learned while researching their own corners of history—nuggets that make the past relevant to those of us living in the twenty-first century. Seven years of Relevant History posts have showed me that human nature hasn’t changed much over time!

For more information on Suzanne, go to her Facebook page here. 

Santa Fe Mourning

World War I widow Madeline Vaughn-Alwin finds solace in the endless blue sky and picturesque landscape in Santa Fe. Leaving her aristocratic family in New York to find a home in Santa Fe, Maddie fulfills her dream to paint. In Santa Fe Mourning by Amanda Allen, Maddie has found solace and friends in the beautiful city of Santa Fe.

Her housekeeper Juanita Anayas and her family are from the Tewa Pueblo, but for some reason they do not go back to the Pueblo. Happy to be home Maddie discovers some tension between Tomas and his son Eddie, but Juanita doesn't explain and Maddie knows there is no way she will be able to learn the source of the problem.

Now that Maddie is home, she wants to enjoy the nightlife of Santa Fe with her friends. Although Prohibition is in full force, that doesn't stop bootleggers from supply the local clubs with alcohol. When Maddie stumbles across the dead body of her housekeeper's husband in the alley behind La Fonda hotel, she enlists her friends to find out what

Tomas had been involved in and why he has been so secretive.

The police are willing to write off Tomas' death as another inebriated Indian, but Maddie knows there was more to this death. When Eddie is arrested for the murder, Maddie digs deeper and finds some people are not what they seem.

She uses her new contacts to help her unravel the mystery and to an interesting new relationship. Santa Fe Mourning is an excellent first in a series. Amanda Allen's beautiful descriptions of the sky and surrounding area in Santa Fe make me want to travel to New Mexico soon.

Killer Debt

The brutal murder of a Loyalist financier in Wilmington, North Carolina, during the American Revolution, has the earmarks of a sadistic British officer. In Killer Debt by Suzanne Adair, Redcoat investigator Michael Stoddard begins the investigation, and he is sure Captain Fairfax had a hand in it. But when Fairfax displays an unbreakable alibi and is asked by their commander to take over the investigation, Michael omits some valuable information to protect a friend.

He still doesn't trust that Fairfax was not involved so even though he has been given a more high profile assignment, he still continues to investigate the death of Jasper Bellington. Missing from the scene is Belllington's nephew, his partner and a pub owner, believed to be with the rebels.


Stoddard's assignment is to guard a signer of the Declaration of Independence on a diplomatic mission to Wilmington. William Hooper is destined for Wilmington to negotiate a prisoner exchange and Michael's job is to make sure he is safe throughout his visit.

Killer Debt takes place in the summer of 1781 while the Eighty-Second Regiment was garrisoned in Wilmington. Although the Battle of Yorktown and the end of the war are a few short months away, Wilmington is still filled with Crown Loyalists and some not-so-loyal-to-the-crown residents. 

Michael is painstaking in his mission to remain fair and unbiased even when his lady love is threatened by her connection to her rebel brother. It's a balancing act and Michael performs his job admirably.

An interesting point of view on the American Revolution.

Watch for an interview with Suzanne Adair on MapYourMystery. com on Wednesday, March 21. 

Interview with M. Louisa Locke

What is the title of your newest book? How many books have you published?

 My newest book in my Victorian San Francisco Mystery series is a novella entitled Kathleen Catches a Killer. I have published five full-length novels, two novellas, and four short stories in this series, and I also have recently published four books in the Paradisi Chronicles science fiction series, including a novella I co-authored with my daughter.

How did you become interested in writing?

Like many future novelists, I was a voracious reader growing up, and as a freshman in high school, I wrote a paper about what I hoped would be my future career, writing historical fiction. Recently, I discovered and re-read this paper and was amused to see that the common theme of the three writers I interviewed was that I should not expect to support myself as a writer but should prepare to have a different career…in short--a day job. I suspect that is why, when I went off to college, I chose to major in history, not literature, with the intention of becoming a college history professor, which I did.

However, I never gave up my dream of writing historical fiction, so thirty years ago between teaching jobs, I wrote the first draft of what would become Maids of Misfortune, the first book in my Victorian San Francisco mystery series. My intention from the start was to take the research I had done for my history doctorate about late 19^th century working women in the far west and turn it into a series of mysteries that would entertain while enlightening readers about these wonderful women. I worked on that first novel off and on during my career as a community college professor, and I finally published it when I hit the age of 60 and had cut back on my teaching load. Within two years, I was making enough money selling that book and Uneasy Spirits, the sequel, to retire completely and write full-time.

What is a day in the life of an author like? Do you write a certain number of words, do you write in the morning or evening, etc?

This varies considerably day by day, as well as depending on what stage I am at in the writing and publishing process. While I find that I tend to work seven days a week, fifty-two weeks of the year, because I am theoretically retired, I try to be very flexible with the number of hours of “work” I do each day. This is particularly true when I am in the research and plotting phase of a book (where I am now), or when I have just published a book and I am more involved with the marketing activities that go with launching that book. During the 4 months or so when I am writing the first draft of a book, I tend to be more focused on keeping my schedule free.

For example, this morning I will spend about three hours catching up on my emails with other authors, reading articles about the publishing industry, and doing marketing related-tasks like answering these questions. I also will take the time later in the day to create a book page on the Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative website that I help maintain.

I will devote most of the rest of this day to writing activities. The past few weeks I have been doing intensive research on the University of California Berkeley campus of 1881 (the setting for my next book), but today I will start creating mini-biographies for the new characters that will be introduced in this book, including both victims, villains, and red herrings.

Once I start the writing phase, I will try to put in at least four to six hours of writing—usually with the goal of writing at least 1000-1500 words. As the book progresses, I will put in more hours, with higher word count goals. I will stop at five for dinner, then put in an hour or so more of either marketing activities or writing, before I stop for good and watch tv with my husband.

However, many days the hours I have to devote to writing get interrupted. There are the inevitable chores and acupuncture appointments that seem necessary to keep an aging house and aging body in working order, and then several times a week I have a lunch or a telephone chat scheduled with friends and family. I even will play hooky from writing to go to an occasional movie matinee with my husband. All of this helps me keep a balanced life, so that I can continue to enjoy my second career for as long as possible.

Do you plot the entire book first, then write or plot as you go?

I am an outliner. It helps keep me from having to do too much rewriting. During the research phase, I will have sketched out the main elements of a mystery: What crimes are going to be committed, and who is responsible? Who are the other suspects? How are my main series characters going to be involved in solving these crimes (and what are their relationships to the victims, villains, and suspects?) And how is their involvement with solving the crimes going to change them? Then, I tend to outline the  book in chunks. I see my stories as having three acts, so I will do a scene-by-scene outline for the first act, then write up those chapters, then pause and do some editing of that first chunk, and then repeat the process with the second and third acts. I used to outline the whole book at the start, but I have learned that new twists and turns (and sometimes even new characters) will pop up in the actual writing, so I try to leave flexibility to insert these elements when outlining the next section.

Do you use real people and places as models for your books?

Absolutely. As a professional historian, I am reluctant to make a real historical person be a main actor in any of my stories, having them say or do things that I know they never said or did. However, I have given real life historical figures (like the pioneer California female lawyer, Clara Foltz) walk on parts in a couple of books. I do use real places all the time in my books (like the Cliff House Inn and Woodward’s Gardens) and the San Francisco department store that is featured in my book, Pilfered Promises, was based on the detailed description I found of Macy’s in the 1870s.

All my characters are modeled on the real men and women I discover doing my research. For example, I made Annie, my series protagonist, a part-time clairvoyant because this was the way that a number of real women (who advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle) made their living. And the murder victim in Deadly Proof, my book featuring women in the San Francisco printing trades, was modeled on a man who ran a printing house and was cited by the California state labor commission for his ill-treatment of his female employees.

In the book I am working on right now, my fictional characters will mingle with real professors and students I have learned about in my research, and the events, like the debates held by the student literary societies, the places, like the newly built gymnasium, and the problems they faced (what happens if you get “cinched” or in other words, fail a class) come right from the what I learned about U.C. Berkeley in the spring of 1881.

Who is your favorite author?

My favorite contemporary author is C. J. Cherryh, who does a lovely job of world building and character development. The two authors who inspired me to become a writer were Geogette Heyer, for her clean and thoroughly entertaining romances, and Dorothy Sayers’ Harriet Vane-Peter Whimsy mysteries, for showing me that mysteries could feature strong female protagonists, light romance, and tackle important issues like how to balance career and marriage.

How do you promote your books?

The easiest and most successful promotion tool I use is having the first book in my series be permanently free. I have found that a good proportion of those readers who are wiling to give Maids of Misfortune a chance as a free book are then willing to go on and buy the rest of the books in the series. I see this as very analogous to the way in which I used go to the library to find new authors, and then when I found ones I liked, would start to buy the other books they wrote as they were published. I also encourage people to signup for a newsletter that I put out when I have a new book or sale on my other books, and I try to keep people who have liked my author facebook page engaged by posting interesting historical tidbits and updates on how my writing progress is going.

If you want to learn more about both my historical mysteries and my science fiction series, do check me out at https://mlouisalocke.com

A Hanged Man's Noose

Investigative freelance writer Emily Garland is thrilled to be given a regular assignment to edit a new magazine called Inside the Landing. It requires her to move to a place called Lount's Landing a small town outside of Toronto. In Hanged Man's Noose by Judy Penz Sheluk, Emily's sweet deal includes a renovated Victorian home and a real paycheck. The one caveat is she has to dig into what mega-developer Garrett Stonehaven is up to in the town.

It's a great plan because she has long hated Garrett Stonehaven and believed he was responsible for her mother's untimely death. Off she goes to Lount's Landing and lands in the middle of some long-dead secrets and lies.

Why would the residents of Lount's Landing name their town after an alleged traitor? This story parallels the Hanged Man's Noose plot in that it is complicated and not what it seems. An apt metaphor.

Her first assignment is to meet Johnny Porter, owner of It's a Colorful Life and chair of the Main Street Merchants Association. She meets him and begins to learn about the other busines owners in town. At a town meeting, Stonehaven presents his plan to renovate an old school building and seems to have community support when he suddenly announces the addition of a Superstore to the plans. This throws everyone into a tailspin. Teaming up with Arabella, the owner of The Glass Dolphin antiques shop, Emily learns many interesting things about her new hometown and the residents. When someone is found murdered, they decide to investigate. 

An intriguing game of cross and double cross takes place and Emily weaves her way through the intrigue. The Hanged Man's Noose is an interesting first book in the series and I look forward to more adventures of Emily and Arabella. 

The next book A Hole in One is available now.

Follow, Follow, Follow

As every writer and blogger knows, followers are vital to the growth of a blog or book.  That's why I am asking my readers to click "Follow" in the right column of MapYourMystery blog. I appreciate your continued support.

MapYourMystery will be reviewing a number of books in the coming weeks. Some include Death by Dumpling  Vivien Chen, Lost Books & Old Bones by Paige Shelton, As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz, The Trophy Wife Exchange by Connie Shelton and many more.

Organized for S'More Death

The McKenzie and Berman families are loading up the vehicles and their children for a weekend in a national forest in the lovely Green Mountains of Vermont. Kate and Meg are looking forward to getting away for a while, but in Organized for S'Mores Death by Ritter Ames, their peaceful weekend is disrupted.

Before they head out Meg has a run in with her husband reporter friend Pulitzer prize winner Paul Gaines. It seems Paul is working on a mob expose and he uses the Berman's house phone to call a mob enforcer. Meg is freaked that this might mean their family might be mistaken victims of Paul's ambition. He claims to have some kind of electronic decide on his phone that prevents anyone from knowing his location. Ok, thinks Meg. We'll see.

Hoping this blow-up will not ruin their trip, the cars are loaded up and they head out for a weekend of fun.

Of course Paul manages to disrupt things as the families pull into the local grocery store near the

cabin. He rams his car into another car leaving the parking lot. Meg can't wait to get rid of Paul, but not in the way it actually happens.

After a pleasant hike, they return to find open bags of food strewn around the cabin and a half-eaten sandwich on the counter. When Meg discovers Paul's phone, that triggers her explosive reaction. She and Kate drive to Paul's caravan to have it out with him. Unfortunately someone beat them to the punch. They find Paul dead. Meg and Kate are on the case.

My favorite parts of the "Organized" series are the tidbits of information at the beginning of each chapter. Many of the ones in this book are related to outdoor camping, which is something I would never do. Camping to me means staying in a Holiday Inn, but two tips stuck out in my mind: the B-complex remedy for biting insects and the Pine-Sol mix for spraying outdoor tables and chairs to keep flies away. I'm planning to try both this summer.

Playing with Bonbon Fire

Inheriting a chocolate shop when you have limited experience can be daunting. Charity Penn leaves her comfortable home in Wisconsin to take over the shop on the beachfront in Camellia Beach, South Carolina. In Playing with Bonbon Fire by Dorothy St. James, Penn is learning chocolate making first hand from her able partner Bertie Bays and still trying to fit in with her estranged family.

Besides learning how to make chocolates, Penn has been roped into planning the town's beach music festival with beach music idol Bixby Lewis as the star. No sooner has Bixby shown up in her shop when a fist-sized rock is hurled through the front window. Bixby claims he has a stalker who must have followed him to South Carolina.

Compounding her issues with broken glass and chocolate, two local beach music singers engage in some name calling and fisticuffs near the main stage. Bubba Crowley, president of the Camellia Beach business association and former lead singer of The Embers Stan Frasier decide to

renew old rivalries. Both were in the same local band in the sixties and seventies when Stan suddenly quit and formed his own group. Neither group became famous and Stan left the area. No one really knows why he left town or why he is back now.

When Penn discovers a body in a bonfire on the beach, she thinks she recognizes it as Bixby. The next day when Bixby walks into her shop, she is shocked and relieved. But who was murdered?

Old rivalries, driving ambition and a lost song lead Penn on a journey to discover who she really is.

A plot that keeps you guessing all the time and a very enjoyable read.